Living, Documenting, and Promoting the Generous Lifestyle

First in the nation. The first in the nation and the rest is history. This is all it takes to start turning the whole thing around. Will never go back to unlabeling GMO’s. Good move Vermont. You did yourselves proud!!!!

Vermont governor signs GMO food labeling into law

Vermont’s GMO labeling bill becomes law

Food entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering must be labeled

The law, set to go in effect July 2016, is the first of its kind in the United States

Gov. Shumlin: “We believe we have a right to know what’s in the food we buy”

(CNN) — Vermont’s governor on Thursday signed a bill into law that will require the labeling of genetically modified foods — hailing it as the first such law in the nation.

Under the new law, food offered for retail sale that is entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering must be labeled as such by July 2016.

“Vermonters take our food and how it is produced seriously, and we believe we have a right to know what’s in the food we buy,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin. “More than 60 countries have already restricted or labeled these foods, and now one state — Vermont — will also ensure that we know what’s in the food we buy and serve our families.”

In the absence of federal action, other states have introduced similar legislation or ballot initiatives, according to the non-profit Center for Food Safety.

Maine and Connecticut passed laws requiring labeling, but they won’t go into effect until other states pass GMO-labeling laws. Vermont is the first to pass a “no strings attached” bill, the watchdog group said.

Supporters of the law expect it will be challenged in court.

“I can make no predictions or promises about how the courts will ultimately rule but I can promise that my office will mount a vigorous and zealous defense of the law that has so much support from Vermont consumers,” said Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell.

The governor tweeted: “Those opposed will put up a fight. Help us fight back.”

Cathleen Enright, executive vice president for food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group, warned that mandated labeling could make food costs for the average household could go up as much as $400 a year.

She stressed foods made from genetically modified crops are as safe as any other.

“And these same GM crops have enabled farmers to produce more on less land with fewer pesticide applications, less water and reduced on-farm fuel use,” Enright said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service approved a non-GMO label for meat and liquid egg products in June, the first time the department has approved such a label from a third party.

GMO foods were approved for human consumption in 1995, but the Food and Drug Administration never required any labels pointing them out as such.

UPDATE: VERMONT GMO LABELING LAW GOES INTO EFFECT JULY 1, 2016. MONSANTO HAS A BILL IN CONGRESS TO KILL IT. IT IS IN THE SENATE. JULY 4,2016

“My promises made are promises kept. I have never supported the Monsanto provision, and I continue to oppose it…I have long fought for strong food safety measures. I have supported a bill requiring labeling of genetically engineered fish, an amendment to the Farm Bill that allows states to require labeling of edible foods and beverages for sale that contain genetically engineered ingredients, and called for labeling of cloned animals or their progeny.”

“I will continue to fight for food safety and consumer information to support the health and well-being of families across America.” – Senator Barbara Mikulski.

“This is a major victory for the food movement and all those who care about openness and transparency in their government,” said Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now! The decision to strip the provision, he said, “is a sign that our voices can make the difference when we are effectively organized.”

According to Murphy’s group, Food Democracy Now! has generated more than half a million signatures in a petition delivered to Congress and the White House demanding the removal of the rider. In addition, the law’s opponents logged more than 40,000 phone calls to members of congress in the last two weeks alone.

“This is what happens when people become engaged in the democratic process,” Murphy said. “Millions of people around the world were outraged when the bill passed originally and removing the Monsanto Protection Act from the current bill is a sign that the food movement has arrived politically. The American people are tired of Monsanto’s lies and the manipulation of our political process and we’re not backing down.”

This is a major victory for America’s farmers, our democracy and our food supply and would not have been possible without all of your calls and emails!

Incredible thanks from all of us at Food Democracy Now! – Let’s keep the progress moving forward on GMO labeling!

MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO MAY 25, 2013. TIPPING POINT. STORY BELOW

Starting at Mitchel Park. Walked down Marsh and up Higuera back to Mitchell. Over 200 people, kids, dogs, students, grandmas, grandpas and everybody in between. It was a good day in the neighborhood.

Poly Ag students. Good for them!!!!! Cal Poly is a Big Time Monsanto supporter. These kids have guts. Our future is looking bright.

FLIP SIDE

What a cutie pie.

GOOD DAY

I have waited a long long time to be able to post really good news about Monsanto. This is not the best news, that day will be when Monsanto is eradicated off the face of the earth, but it is getting there. Buying power can bring any mega corp to its knees. If we don’t buy it they have to eat it.

Boycotts, protests, petitions seem to be working.

(NaturalNews) Monsanto is now in full retreat against a global grassroots rejection of its poisons and lies. The company is backpedaling on every front now, even admitting defeat in Europe and now trying to focus its last, desperate efforts on the United States and Brazil.

We’ve reached the tipping point against Monsanto

Jeffrey Smith of www.ResponsibleTechnology.org has always talked about a “tipping point” being reached on GMOs, after which the flood of consumer awareness and demand would force food manufacturers and retailers to begin the process of ditching GMOs. I believe that tipping point has now been reached. In fact, I believe the March Against Monsanto was the final push over the fulcrum of the tipping point, and I am ecstatic that so many people all around the world marched in the streets to protest global food injustice while the wholly-discredited mainstream media sat back and pretended the march never even took place!

In one fell sweep, the tipping point against Monsanto was triggered and the whole world realized the mainstream media has zero credibility. I’ll call that a victory any day!

Next steps: Commands from headquarters?

If you’re waiting for “commands from headquarters” to figure out what’s next in the war for food justice and farming justice — the war against Monsanto and GMOs — you don’t really understand this movement. The beauty of everything that’s happening today is that there IS no headquarters!

Activists against Monsanto are simply making this up as we go along. There is no “leader.” There is no secret strategy meeting. There are no talking points. There is no overarching set of milestones being discussed. There is no one person that makes all this happen.

The anti-GMO movement is all just large numbers of courageous individuals waking up and doing what needs to be done, whether that’s organizing a march, posting videos online, boycotting food brands that use GMOs, or holding home viewing parties of DVDs that educate people on the truth about GMOs.

This is the movement’s strength. This is why nobody can be intimidated, sued or shut down by Monsanto. Behind every activist there are a thousand more carrying the torch for food justice. The anti-GMO grassroots movement absolutely will not stop until GMOs are banned from the global food supply, and that bold statement is just as true in Venezuela and Portugal as the United States. Everywhere that people eat food and grow food, everyone who is informed supports the idea of outlawing GMOs entirely.

This goal will be achieved. I can see it now with clarity. The grassroots energy behind this movement is unstoppable. And while everyone in the grassroots anti-GMO movement may come from slightly different viewpoints on other social, political and economic issues, they all agree that GMOs have no place in the food supply, period!

As I recently said in my speech at the March Against Monsanto in Austin:

The fact that you are here, in all your beautiful diversity… is proof that they cannot divide us! They can only unite us with their insanity!

If you are part of the effort to stop Monsanto and outlaw GMOs, you are winning. You are making a measurable, effective difference in the world, and the positive shockwaves of your efforts will be felt for generations to come.

Keep up the good work.🙂

In light of the recent public anger over the Monsanto Protection Act, here’s a simple, list of companies that use Monsanto products. By avoiding products made by companies on this list, you can help ensure your money isn’t going to Monsanto.

Monsanto wrote the Protection Act. It says you can’t sue them for anything. This is akin to the Halliburton Loophole, maybe that is where they got the idea. Here’s a list of companies to Boycott.

Boycott

Try this. Start with the A’s and every week add a new product you will Monsanto free in a little over a year. Well almost. Truth is there are corn derivatives are mind boggling. But lets just get rid of these nasties first. Just one little thing you could be watching out for that really surprised me that is why I am mentioning it because Trader Joe vitamins and supplements have this in it and I can’t buy them any more. Maltodextrine is corn starch, magnesium stearate and citric and ascorbic acids are used as a filler and comes from corn. O.k. I lied you have to look over this list too. Right now I am in a bind as to where to get my extra Vitamin C. Can’t seem to be able to avoid the magnesium stearate or ascorbic acid compounds. Below is a website written by someone who has a corn Allergy so she knows her stuff mainly because she finds out it has corn when she has a reaction. With 90% of all the corn being GMO chances are these things are GMO corn derivatives. And Vit E. Darn!

“The lists of corn products, ingredients and additives that I provide are not intended to be exhaustive, for that would be impossible to compile. There are many additives that are derived from corn that we do not know about, and often the employees of food companies do not know either. Plus, corn derivatives can be found in everything from body powder to shampoo (I’ve reacted to both)! The FDA, at this time, does not regulate corn to the extent that it does, say, peanuts, so we corn allergy sufferers are truly on our own. (Click here for a printable List in a separate browser window.)

PLEASE NOTE: In addition to the items on this list not including everything that contains corn, not everything on this list will contain corn. It is that they can contain corn, and therefore may need to be outright avoided or used cautiously. Read more about this on the Corn Allergens as Ingredients page. The items identified with an asterisk * are the most common items that might not always contain or be derived from corn. Proceed with caution!”

Acetic acid

Alcohol

Alpha tocopherol

Artificial flavorings

Artificial sweeteners

Ascorbates

Ascorbic acid

Aspartame (Artificial sweetener)

Astaxanthin

Baking powder

Barley malt* (generally OK, but can be contaminated)

Bleached flour*

Blended sugar (sugaridextrose)

Brown sugar* (generally OK if no caramel color)

Calcium citrate

Calcium fumarate

Calcium gluconate

Calcium lactate

Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)

Calcium stearate

Calcium stearoyl lactylate

Caramel and caramel color

Carbonmethylcellulose sodium

Cellulose microcrystalline

Cellulose, methyl

Cellulose, powdered

Cetearyl glucoside

Choline chloride

Citric acid*

Citrus cloud emulsion (CCS)

Coco glycerides (cocoglycerides)

Confectioners sugar

Corn alcohol, corn gluten

Corn extract

Corn flour

Corn oil, corn oil margarine

Corn starch

Corn sweetener, corn sugar

Corn syrup, corn syrup solids

Corn, popcorn, cornmeal

Cornstarch, cornflour

Crosscarmellose sodium

Crystalline dextrose

Crystalline fructose

Cyclodextrin

DATUM (a dough conditioner)

Decyl glucoside

Decyl polyglucose

Dextrin

Dextrose (also found in IV solutions)

Dextrose anything (such as monohydrate or anhydrous)

d-Gluconic acid

Distilled white vinegar

Drying agent

Erythorbic acid

Erythritol

Ethanol

Ethocel 20

Ethylcellulose

Ethylene

Ethyl acetate

Ethyl alcohol

Ethyl lactate

Ethyl maltol

Fibersol-2

Flavorings*

Food starch

Fructose*

Fruit juice concentrate*

Fumaric acid

Germ/germ meal

Gluconate

Gluconic acid

Glucono delta-lactone

Gluconolactone

Glucosamine

Glucose*

Glucose syrup* (also found in IV solutions)

Glutamate

Gluten

Gluten feed/meal

Glycerides

Glycerin*

Glycerol

Golden syrup

Grits

High fructose corn syrup

Hominy

Honey*

Hydrolyzed corn

Hydrolyzed corn protein

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)

Inositol

Invert syrup or sugar

Iodized salt

Lactate

Lactic acid*

Lauryl glucoside

Lecithin

Linoleic acid

Lysine

Magnesium citrate

Magnesium fumarate

Magnesium stearate

Maize

Malic acid

Malonic acid

Malt syrup from corn

Malt, malt extract

Maltitol

Maltodextrin

Maltol

Maltose

Mannitol

Methyl gluceth

Methyl glucose

Methyl glucoside

Methylcellulose

Microcrystaline cellulose

Modified cellulose gum

Modified corn starch

Modified food starch

Molasses* (corn syrup may be present; know your product)

Mono- and di- glycerides

Monosodium glutamate

MSG

Natural flavorings*

Olestra/Olean

Polenta

Polydextrose

Polylactic acid (PLA)

Polysorbates* (e.g. Polysorbate 80)

Polyvinyl acetate

Potassium citrate

Potassium fumarate

Potassium gluconate

Powdered sugar

Pregelatinized starch

Propionic acid

Propylene glycol*

Propylene glycol monostearate*

Saccharin

Salt (iodized salt)

Semolina (unless from wheat)

Simethicone

Sodium carboxymethylcellulose

Sodium citrate

Sodium erythorbate

Sodium fumarate

Sodium lactate

Sodium starch glycolate

Sodium stearoyl fumarate

Sorbate

Sorbic acid

Sorbitan* (anything)

Sorbitol

Sorghum* (not all is bad; the syrup and/or grain CAN be mixed with corn)

Splenda (Artificial sweetener)

Starch (any kind that’s not specified)

Stearic acid

Stearoyls

Sucralose (Artificial sweetener)

Sucrose

Sugar* (not identified as cane or beet)

Threonine

Tocopherol (vitamin E)

Treacle (aka golden syrup)

Triethyl citrate

Unmodified starch

Vanilla, natural flavoring

Vanilla, pure or extract

Vanillin

Vegetable anything that’s not specific*

Vinegar, distilled white

Vinyl acetate

Vitamin C* and Vitamin E*

Vitamins*

Xanthan gum

Xylitol

Yeast*

Zea mays

Zein

I am proud to say I no longer buy anything on this list. Above list that’s a different story. Inch by inch……..

And you have to think about what ingredients restaurants use. Again, unless they advertise otherwise more than likely they are buying cheap and it has GMO’s in it.

If something doesn’t feel quite right it usually sends up a little red flag and gives cause to pause. So, is the case with the defeat of Prop 37, Label GMO’s. Something was not adding up. With 90% of the people polled wanting GMO’s labelled how is it that the initiative lost with only 48.5% of the people voting for it?

A small group, headed by Tom Courbat, former senior budget analyst for LA County, was wondering the same thing and decided to challenge the vote. Any public citizens can ask for a recount but they have to pay for it. Here is how that recount inquiry went down. It explains a lot and tells you that when something just doesn’t feel right chances are that feeling is right. Forget Denmark, something is very rotten in our own backyard.

Hole in the Fence would like to give a shout out and support to a community action against Fracking.

On Wednesday September 19, 2012, the Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal in New York published the findings of the first-ever long-term peer reviewed feed trial. It explored the long-term health impact of consuming GM Maize and the world’s most popular herbicide, Round-up.

AND THEN

MONSANTO’S TV AD SO BLATANTLY FALSE IT WAS PULLED OFF THE AIR BY THE FCC. It has to be pretty bad for that to happen.

Am I enjoying this? More than you will ever know. There was never any doubt in anyone’s mind where I stood on the Monsanto issue. This is finally beginning to smell like sweet, sweet victory and the fall of a an evil evil giant. Prop 37 last polled is ahead 2-1. If you don’t vote on anything else on Nov. 6 please please make sure and vote on at least this one. Yes on Prop 37. Help deliver the final blow and put this monster out of business for good.

Since the beginning Monsanto has been putting out junk science about their exclusive patented Genetically Modified Organisms and the EPA, FDA and every crooked, corrupt, lying, politician world wide enabled them with every rule, regulation, law they could get their grubby little hands on.

Since the beginning Monsanto has has been lying through their GMO teeth about the effects of Roundup and GMO’s on the environment, on our kids, animals that are feed roundup ready corn and maize. They were able to create weapons of mass destruction so monstrous, so insidious, so devastating as to be untouchable, invincible, all powerful. Too big to fail.

There was not a ounce of truth in anything Monsanto said or did as they planted their killing fields in every corner of the world. Monsanto declared war on Nature and with an army of corrupt lying lawmakers, politicians and junkie scientists were given free range to rape and pillage everything in Nature’s path. Monsanto’s kingdom was built on LIES and Ruled Supreme. Until NOW.

Monsanto has met it’s Maker and it is the Truth.
This is the Truth.

The study, led by Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen, was the first ever study to examine the long-term (lifetime) effects of eating GMOs. You may find yourself thinking it is absolutely astonishing that no such studies were ever conducted before GM corn was approved for widespread use by the USDA and FDA, but such is the power of corporate lobbying and corporate greed.

Findings from the study

Here are some of the shocking findings from the study:

• Up to 50% of males and 70% of females suffered premature death.

• Rats that drank trace amounts of Roundup (at levels legally allowed in the water supply) had a 200% to 300% increase in large tumors.

• The study fed these rats NK603, the Monsanto variety of GM corn that’s grown across North America and widely fed to animals and humans. This is the same corn that’s in your corn-based breakfast cereal, corn tortillas and corn snack chips.

Want more Proof? See it with your own eyes.

NOW WHAT?

Do you think you have a right to know what is in your food NOW? Are you going to believe for one second anything Monsanto, FDA, EPA, and corporate junkies tell you about GMO’s NOW? Be the power that drives the final stake into Monsanto’s LYING, CHEATING,CORRUPT heart.

VOTE YES ON PROP 37 CALIFORNIA’S RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN OUR FOOD NOVEMBER 6, 2012.